Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. . . They go from strength to strength, til each appears before God in Zion (Psalm 84:5,7).

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"Wherever your lives may be cast, make the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it" (Edward Bok). And I would add, do it for Jesus.

About Me

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Maintaining Our Confidence in God Despite Our Suffering

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly
rewarded”
(Hebrews 10:35).

People put their confidence in many things, all of which will
disappoint them at some point.God is
the only one in whom we can have complete faith and trust.As believers in Christ we put our confidence
in Him, but how easy it is to forget that truth when we are continually faced with
pain and suffering.We may temporarily
lose our faith and trust, doubting His ability to bring us through these trials.

In Hebrews 10, the author reminded his readers of their
early days in the faith when they withstood their suffering with confidence
(verse 23).The Expositor’s Bible
Commentary says, “They had experienced some form of persecution and had come
through it triumphantly.This should
teach them that in Christ they had blessings of a kind they could never have
had if they had given way to persecution.There should be no going back on that kind of endurance now”.

As the years have passed and my health problems have become
more debilitating, I have been (and still am) tempted to lose my confidence
in God.How quickly I “throw away” the
history of His faithfulness and forget how He has used these sufferings to grow
me in my faith.

Reminding myself of the specific ways God has shown Himself
faithful encourages me to hold on to that confidence. Verbally declaring my
faith and trust in Him is a strong defense against the attacks of Satan. Reading
testimonies of other believers who have endured great persecution also motivates
me to hold fast to this confidence.

Our pain and sufferings are difficult and at times seem
unbearable.But we can pray for eyes to
see the blessings we are receiving through our trials and persevere in our
endurance as countless other believers have done and are doing, “holding unswervingly
to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

Prayer:Heavenly Father, You have continually proven
Yourself worthy of my complete faith and trust.Let me triumphantly hold on to my endurance and confidence in You, knowing
You will not fail, and my reward will be worth the suffering. Amen.